Capitalism Gone Wild
Thanks to commenter Geos at Steve Gilliard for pointing to this excellent and well-worth reading expose of Girls Gone Wild proprietor Joe Francis, from the LA Times:
‘Baby, Give Me a Kiss’
The man behind the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ soft-porn empire lets Claire Hoffman into his world, for better or worse
By Claire Hoffman, Times Staff Writer
August 6, 2006
Joe Francis, the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” empire, is humiliating me. He has my face pressed against the hood of a car, my arms twisted hard behind my back. He’s pushing himself against me, shouting: “This is what they did to me in Panama City!”
It’s after 3 a.m. and we’re in a parking lot on the outskirts of Chicago. Electronic music is buzzing from the nightclub across the street, mixing easily with the laughter of the guys who are watching this, this me-pinned-and-helpless thing.
Francis isn’t laughing.
He has turned on me, and I don’t know why. He’s going on and on about Panama City Beach, the spring break spot in northern Florida where Bay County sheriff’s deputies arrested him three years ago on charges of racketeering, drug trafficking and promoting the sexual performance of a child. As he yells, I wonder if this is a flashback, or if he’s punishing me for being the only blond in sight who’s not wearing a thong. This much is certain: He’s got at least 80 pounds on me and I’m thinking he’s about to break my left arm. My eyes start to stream tears.
This is not what I anticipated when I signed up for a tour of Joe Francis’ world. I’ve been with him nonstop since early afternoon, listening as he teases employees, flying on his private jet, eating fast food and watching young women hurl themselves against his 6-foot-2-inch frame, declaring, “We want to go wild!”
It’s a fascinating read, and exposes the underbelly of the nightclub and video industry, but I have massive issues about any employer allowing and even encouraging an employee to put herself in such sexual danger for a story. It was foolhardy of the reporter carry on after being assaulted, and particularly to have dropped the charges against her attacker.
That said, I’m glad to see this parasitic slimeball being exposed to the light of day.
